The Golden State Warriors have gradually risen back up the Western Conference standings following a terrible 1-5 road trip. With just 4.5 games separating them from the first-place Denver Nuggets, they are currently tied with the Phoenix Suns for the eighth seed in the West.
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The Warriors rise in the standings began with their eight-game homestand, in which, they are a perfect 5-0 so far. Evidently, playing at the Chase Center was exactly what the team needed in order to bounce back as they now hold the best home record in the league at 17-2.
It’s still difficult to comprehend why there is such a vast discrepancy between the Warriors’ home record versus their league-worst road record of 3-16. One key difference is their defense, as the team boasts a 106.2 defensive rating when playing at the Chase Center – second-best in the NBA. However, on the road, their defensive rating rises to 120.1 which is second-worst in the NBA.
Although the energy provided from the Chase Center crowd may have something to do with the Warriors picking up their intensity on that end, ESPN’s Kevin Pelton offered a more detailed look at the Warriors’ defensive home/road splits in his latest article.
Via ESPN:
At Chase Center, Warriors opponents are making 29% of their 3-point attempts — the league’s lowest mark by a wide margin. No other team sees opponents hit less than 32% of their 3s at home. On the road, that trend almost reverses. Golden State opponents make 41% of 3-point attempts in their own arenas — second only to the San Antonio Spurs.
Given the typical Warriors game features more than 36 3-point attempts, that’s a difference of about 13 points per game attributable solely to opponent shot-making beyond the arc. (Some of that difference can be made up in additional offensive rebound opportunities on the extra misses, but not much.) That’s approximately two-thirds of the massive 20-point gulf between Golden State’s point differential at home (plus-9.7 PPG) and away (minus-10.1).
There are some differences in the types of 3s Warriors opponents shoot. Per Second Spectrum tracking on NBA Advanced Stats, a slightly higher share of their 3-point attempts in road games are of the higher-percentage catch-and-shoot variety (72% come off zero dribbles, compared with 69% at home). Second Spectrum data also indicates Golden State is contesting a larger percentage of 3s faced at home (91%) than on the road (89%).
The Warriors have three more games left in this homestand. After that, they get another long, five-game road trip which will give them an opportunity to show whether or not their road concerns are finally behind them.
Source: https://www.goldenstateofmind.com
